President Donald Trump says he has heard Democratic running mate Kamala Harris “doesn’t qualify” to serve as US vice-president, amplifying a fringe legal theory critics decry as racist. Ms Harris was born to a Jamaican father and Indian mother in Oakland, California, on 20 October 1964. But a conservative law […]
Months after her own presidential dreams sputtered to a halt, Kamala Harris will now get another shot at the Democratic ticket. A year ago, the California senator had surged to the front of a crowded field of candidates on the back of a series of strong debate performances – and […]
Thousands of holidaymakers have seen their plans thrown into chaos after UK quarantine measures were imposed on France from Saturday. The 14-day isolation requirement begins at 04:00 BST and also applies to people arriving from the Netherlands, Monaco, Malta, Turks and Caicos, and Aruba. It comes after France’s prime minister […]
Earlier this week Domino’s Pizza had to issue an apology over a promotion it ran in Australia and New Zealand, offering free pizza to “nice Karens”. The company didn’t pick out the name Karen at random. “Karen” has, in recent years, become a widespread meme referencing a specific type of middle-class white […]
The Hong Kong government has postponed September’s parliamentary elections by a year, saying it is necessary amid a rise in coronavirus infections. Hong Kong is currently experiencing a spike in Covid-19 infections, and reported 121 new cases on Friday. However, the opposition has accused the government of using the pandemic […]
Emails between UK socialite Ghislaine Maxwell and the late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have been revealed in a trove of unsealed court documents. Epstein tells Ms Maxwell she has done “nothing wrong” in the 2015 exchange, which appears to contradict her earlier claims of not having contacted him. And […]
Several staff will be replaced on Ellen DeGeneres’ daytime chat show after an investigation uncovered “deficiencies” in “the show’s day-to-day management”. The inquiry was prompted by a widely-circulated story on Buzzfeed news, in which employees made allegations of racism and intimidation on the show. The accusers claimed the workplace was toxic and […]
FROM OUR OBSESSION Because China Even small changes in China have global effects. Like many of his colleagues in the Hong Kong civil service, V. has a calendar pinned up in his office cubicle. But his stands out: it features a slogan supporting the city’s pro-democracy protest movement. “My calendar […]
Small and medium-sized businesses have been at the center of the Narendra Modi government’s plans to revive the Indian economy from the Covid-19-triggered slump. Yet, experts believe, not much has changed for such firms and the pandemic could prove to be a “mass-extinction event” for them. Only a third of […]
FROM OUR OBSESSION Global Economic Disruptions Globalization, automation, and inequality. At the beginning of July, the US government’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) gave $354 million to a drug company to fight the pandemic. Its other big investments, which by now have topped a few billion, have gone to established American […]